The Unusual Downside Of Using Your Imagination

Memory is an incredible tool. From nostalgic thoughts to little details, our brains have the power to recall the most poignant and defining moments -- but are all of our recollections accurate?

According to Harvard psychologist Daniel Schacter, the brain has the capacity to remember many things, including events that never actually happened. And self-help methods from the past may be part of the problem.

In the Brainwave video above, Schacter explains that while therapy can be an insightful and healing tool, techniques once used to help sort through traumatic experiences may have implored the mind to invent alternate realities. Giving people free range to their imaginations during these sessions can "have the potential to create false memories," Schacter says in the video.

Check out the full clip above for more on how the brain selects and processes moments in time.

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Brain Fitness Tips

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Actively challenging your peripheral vision improves brain performance and helps you navigate the world safely.
Recent studies shows that drivers stay on the road longer and have fewer accidents after actively training their useful field of view.

Developing better habits of careful listening will help your ability to understand, think and remember.
Reconstructing the song requires close attentional focus and an active memory.
When you focus, you release brain chemicals like the neurotransmitter acetylcholine that enable plasticity and vivifies memory.

Playing an instrument helps you exercise many interrelated dimensions of brain function, including listening, control of refined movements and translation of written notes (sight) to music (movement and sound).

Heavy crossword players show the same rate of cognitive decline as people who do few crossword puzzles.

Think of this: You can't get rid of radio static by turning up the volume. Many people raise the volume because their listening has become "detuned" -- a little fuzzy.
Matching TV volume to a conversational level can help you catch every word when talking with others.

Practice throwing and catching a ball up in the air.
People who master these kinds of sensory-guided movement activities can hone their brains' visual, tactile and hand-eye coordination responses, with widespread positive impacts for the brain.
This type of activity has been shown in MRI studies to thicken parts of the brain's cortex.

If you're right-handed, use your left hand for daily activities (or vice-versa) like brushing your teeth and eating.
Doing such activities can drive your brain to make positive changes.
Think of millions of neurons learning new tricks as you finally establish better control of that other hand!

Walking on bumpy surfaces, such as cobblestones, improves the vestibular system of the inner ear, which plays a central role in balance and equilibrium.
Cobblestone walking challenges the vestibular system in ways that improve its function, which translates into better balance -- the key to preventing serious injuries.

Mentally rotating the shape of each piece in your head helps brain fitness.

Start paying attention to the physical world around you. Start noticing things and make an active effort to find new details even in a familiar situation.
When you stop learning, your brain stops growing.